


Aeris Buys Socks

by sanctum_c



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Adult Only Interests, Adult Oriented, Adulting, Do not repost, Fashion & Couture, Gen, Light-Hearted, Missing Scene, One Shot, Shopping, Socks, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:55:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26704057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Her policy for many years was for all her foot-wear – taking as much punishment as it did and so integral to her working comfort – would always come from at least this store on the Upper plate. And worn out socks was the order of business today.It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman who spends a lot of time on her feet, must be in want of decent footwear.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 12





	Aeris Buys Socks

**Author's Note:**

> Suggested and beta'd by [Nautilusopus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nautilusopus).

Flower selling was a profitable, but not an especially fast-paced, business. The days she made a substantial profit still required Aeris to stand for hours and hours, basket over the crook of her arm. Sometimes people would notice and approach to buy one or more flowers for a loved one. Other times, she would sidle up to prospective customers and offer them whatever seemed right for them. Always the sliding scale of prices depending where in the city she was and, at times, the finances for the week.

And if Aeris were honest, she should modify her behaviours more. All too quick to head home as early as possible on the good days and prolong her waits on the bad. The inverse would be far more practical. But the good days were free from rain. Customers seemed happier. Much to do at home or elsewhere. And if nothing else the thought of working through these times was unpalatable. Conversely the bad days made her desperate for any and all sales, no matter how far they were strung out across the hours.

A string of bad days ended late yesterday. The weather in Midgar particularly awful for over a week, the darkened skies gloomier than normal, the streets of the upper plate repeatedly soaked by the rains. Aeris sought shelter where she could, hoping for some success amongst the subdued populations in the streets, the ones who dashed between cover and crammed into restaurants and bars.

The weather rarely affected the slums to such an extent; high winds were the biggest nuisance this time of year. But as much as there was money in the slums, it paled in significance to the potentials the upper plates offered. Where the rich and powerful lived care-free lives.

A shame this was illusory.

Life should be better on the upper plate; open air, fewer monsters and far less risk of mugging. But the balance was still stacked against the populace. Homes were largely rented and holding onto one could not – and would not - be guaranteed. Food cost more, to say nothing of other luxuries.

There were the rich parts of Midgar – those capable of affording her most ridiculously bumped up prices – but these represented only a fraction of the truly rich. The ones who owned both the lower and upper cities. Who demanded payments for living within either city; rent, power bills, water. All money flowed into Shinra; from it flowed Mako.

Earlier childhood dreams of one day ascending to the floating city fell away; there was nothing to truly aspire to here. Slum dwellers tended to dream of a contented life in the sky. But said life - while more comfortable - still left them subservient, reliant and exploited by the same corporation.

Which was not to say the upper plate had nothing to offer; so many things existed up here effectively unavailable to the slum dwellers. Better food. Better frivolous purchases. Theatre productions – though Aeris never made enough to attend. And clothing.

Up here was where fashion began; where the glimpsed outfits one of the Loveless stars might wear would be on sale for more gil than Aeris could earn in a year. These clothes were in shops with sparse furniture; cold empty voids populated by condescending employees.

Few bothered with the fashion of this ilk and most were content with more mundane – if expensive – clothing.

Visiting any shop up here revealed Summer dresses had long since given way to Autumn fashions, these in-turn already thin on the ground as Winter fashion approached, though it was still only early September.

Dresses, scarves, pants, bras, sweaters, shoes- Trends were towards more colourful so shops contained riots of unusual shades. Quite the improvement over the mundane earth tones of recent years. High fashion inspired cheaper fashion and so on down the chain. The slums took cues – unconsciously or not – from the upper plate designs.

Allegedly there was a superb dress maker in Wall Market, but Aeris had never managed to investigate the relevant store. Would the dresses offered there be as lovely or appealing as those on offer here? The key difference was the ones on sale in Sector Six might one day be affordable to her.

Her outfit was sufficient for her needs; ease of movement, innocent-seeming to afford her the naïve flower-girl notion, but revealing enough to entice those more resilient, but with libidos capable of overriding their suspicion. A good dress. But a work dress; not one she would use for dates or purely for her own comfort.

Fashion was forever in motion. The range of dresses on sale here would soon be gone forever and with no consideration for her to be in a position to afford them.

This was the way of things it seemed.

And not why she was here. Aeris moved away from the window display with some effort, heading instead towards the less prestigious shops. A fashion low on the rungs – possibly not far off the level where the slum fashion began, but the difference was palpable and distinct. What she acquired here would look better and last longer than anything in the slums. And cost substantially more, but it was a trade-off seemingly acceptable.

The store she entered was always jam-packed. Teens buying the latest fashion within their price range, older men who felt clothing designed for those decades younger would still suit. Long queues. Comparatively cheap stuff; the store operated a business model strangely reminiscent of the top of the fashion tree. Single runs of which there would be no further instances. Though the quantities of this limited run were so vast the distinction was hard to grasp.

Aeris headed deep into the shop; bypassing the new Winter fashion, the fading Autumn fashion, the sale-rack dregs of summer. Past make-up, gifts, lingerie to arrive at footwear.

A thought. Would not hurt to check while she was here. She lifted one foot; the tread on her boot was still thick, the sole unbroken. One less thing to worry about. Boots were often replaced, worn down by hours of standing, hours of walking. Any socks she purchased in the slums wore out so fast, the rapidity the holes developed rendering them effectively useless.

Her policy for many years was for all her foot-wear – taking as much punishment as it did and so integral to her working comfort – would always come from at least this store on the Upper plate. And worn out socks was the order of business today.

A galaxy of socks lay ahead. Some plain, others patterned. Black, white, pink, yellow, orange, mako-green. Really she should choose something appropriate. Something to match or accent her dress or jacket. The theory anyway.

But her boots were high, and most socks only reached the top of her boots. Invisible to any observers. Sock choice was far less limited, and she never let appropriateness restrict her choices.

So many socks, but-

Aeris grinned. She plucked up the black socks, embroidered with a yellow moon and stars, purple bats and bright orange pumpkins. It was, after-all, almost Halloween.


End file.
